Too Much Wax
by the-kings-tail-fin
Summary: Gale Beaufort has to make an impossible decision.
1. Chapter 1

Gale's cheerful hums echoed off of the walls in the empty training room as she passed through. It was her favorite time of day, late enough that everyone was off the clock, but early enough to still spend some free time in the sun. But that day? That day she had plans she had looked forward to all week.

"Dear _Chrysler_ , Gale." Jackson emerged from behind the simulator. "Got enough wax? I can't see you for the reflections in your paint."

Gale stopped, taken off guard at his presence. She knew he'd be around. He never seemed to leave the place, but in light of her upcoming evening, she'd forgotten about him.

"Is it too much?" she asked hesitantly, looking down at herself.

Jackson blinked. Gale looked so self conscious. She didn't polish herself up for just anything, but she did tend to do so for _someone_. Jackson sighed.

"You look great, Gale, I'm just messin' with you," he said.

He couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice. The somber look on her face told him she picked up on it. Of course she did. Gale picked up on everything. Jackson considered telling her what he knew, but hesitated. She knew that he didn't like her hanging out with the newest Dinoco hauler, but he'd never try and stop her. That was her decision to make.

Or at least he'd thought so.

"Hey," he called to her as she turned to leave him. "One last thing. I think I heard Ray talking to the bossman earlier about something you might wanna check out."

He shrugged and turned away before she could ask what it was. He didn't want to be the one to tell her.

* * *

 _Just a quick chat, it'll be quick._

She sighed before knocking on her boss's door. It could have waited until the next day, but she knew herself - she knew that not knowing about what Jackson had mentioned earlier would haunt her and ruin her date. Her mind required closure to function properly. That was why she'd stopped watching so many drama shows.

"Come in!" The booming voice seemed to vibrate the glass doors.

Gale pushed them open to greet her boss. The black Mini Cooper was but a fraction of her size, but his presence never failed to make her feel small. She wouldn't ever let him know that, though. They had an agreement. If she was upfront and honest, he would be too. They talked business, never beating around the bush. It's what made them effective as a team.

"Gale!" he exclaimed as she entered the room and towered above his immaculate desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I just ran into Jackson," she explained with an air of caution. "He said that you had some information I might want to know about? Does that ring a bell?"

The Mini's face fell, slowly turning from a welcoming smile to a disappointing nod. He knew exactly what the kid was talking about. It was a conversation he himself had been trying to avoid in the hopes that their situation improved. It hadn't, and showed no signs of doing so. He knew he had to make a call. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit, but it was the only handle he had on the situation, the only thing he could control.

It was best for the team.

"Gale, look, I'm gonna be straight with you. That's how we work, right?"

An edge crept into his voice, one that Gale recognized. Her throat started to close in fear. The only other time she'd heard this tone, she hadn't meant to hear it. It had been the last day she'd seen that trainer show up to work.

"Look here," he said to her, turning his computer monitor so she could see it. "You know about this, right?"

He clicked through a photo gallery. The paparazzi had been plenty busy, but she hadn't cared. Why should she? Why should she let them influence what she wanted to do?

This was why. Photos upon photos of her and Mack. They weren't bad photos. Some of them made her smile. There was one of them hanging outside an ice cream parlor. Mack's ice cream had melted at an alarmingly fast rate, and he struggled to keep up with it. He got it all over him, and she could do nothing to help, caught up in her own manic laughter. Laughter that resulted in her making a mess as well.

But there were more pictures - pictures of them together at races, together at rest stops on the haul out west, together driving down the interstates. None of these were bad photos. They weren't even compromising.

But they were something else.

"Do you remember the terms you agreed to when you signed on for the job?" her boss asked with a tired sigh. "Do you remember the conditions?"

Gale thought. She didn't have to ponder long. No, she didn't remember the terms and agreements down to the letter, but one thing was obvious.

"Conflict of interest," she answered shortly. "Can't be having that."

The car nodded and looked at his star hauler. She didn't have a single mark on her driving record. She could handle Storm in ways that not even Ray could. She was a genuine soul of sorts he wished he could have more of around.

"Gale, I don't want to let you go," he said in a much softer tone. "You're the best at what you do. But if something happens and we end up at odds with Dinoco, we don't have a chance. They're too big, too powerful for us to deal with."

"I know, sir."

"Because I consider you a friend as well, I'm going to give you an choice. I can't tell you how to live your life, but you signed a contract. To remain an employee of IGNTR, you cannot have a relationship with a truck that works for a competitor. Especially one that poses such a competitive threat to the IGNTR Racing Team. It's him or us. It's up to you."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"Beautiful, yeah?"

She cracked open her eyes and looked up again at the sunset, the warm orange and pink hues in the clouds warming her as the air chilled. She smiled and tried to snuggle closer to him as though she weren't already leaning against him.

"Yeah," she answered.

Mack looked over at her and felt his spirit swell. Her black paint seemed to absorb the shades of the sky and radiate them about her. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. She shined up better than even McQueen did.

Gale gazed at the setting sun. Silently, she wished that it would stop moving, that it would stay in that place forever - that _she_ could stay in that place forever. She wanted nothing more than that grassy, secluded hillside and the remnants of a picnic behind them to be her past, her present, her future. Maybe if she closed her eyes and wished really hard…

Mack watched as she seemed to drift away again. Her eyes shuttered closed and the sense of urgency in her affection increased. That was normal for her, he thought. She was always like this. But why did something feel off?

Their date had gone exactly according to plan, perhaps a little too much so. He'd surprised her with flowers. They'd talked about anything and everything, just as they always did. But why had she seemed so desperate to see him? Almost sad? Maybe it was his imagination. He did have an active imagination.

But he also wasn't one to speculate. Transparency and honesty were some of his best traits.

"Is somethin' wrong, Gale?" he asked quietly as the bottom of the sun touched the horizon.

She flinched at the question and pulled away slightly. She opened her eyes again but let her gaze fall to her hood. She couldn't hide the way she felt from him, he understood her too well. If something was bothering her, oftentimes he would catch it before she even realized it.

"Tell me," he insisted.

She looked over and made brief eye contact with him. For the first time in months, she couldn't hold it. She looked back to the horizon and blinked away a couple tears. The sun fell lower. Was her time almost up? Did she have to make a choice right then and there? It wasn't possible.

"I talked to my boss today," she said quietly.

Mack tensed. They'd talked about it - themselves and their implications - in times past. They knew that what they were doing was technically against the rules. Worried, Mack had even spoken to Tex about it once after it went public, but the old Cadillac just laughed and waved him away.

"As long as y'ain't spillin' company secrets, do what you wanna do," he'd said.

But Mack had been around the circuit long enough to know that not every sponsor was as gracious and understanding as Dinoco. Some companies - like IGNTR - had a lot more to lose.

"And?" Mack found it hard to prod further. He didn't want to know what she was about to say. He didn't want to hear it.

He already knew.

"He told me to choose," she whispered. "I don't think I can."

The answer seemed obvious at first. She'd choose him. She'd choose love. That's what she wanted more than anything. She could be a hauler for any other company and get along just fine. That wasn't an issue.

But Jackson needed her. Heck, even Ray needed her around to keep his sanity. IGNTR needed her to do her job. Without Storm in line, without a functioning core team, they'd be nothing. They all needed her, and could she just forsake their needs for her own?

Could she bear forsaking Mack's needs for the betterment of some corporate agenda? It didn't seem right. Both decisions were selfish. Both were inconsiderate. Either decision put her at a loss.

But Mack understood.

He nudged her and put on a soft smile. She clenched her teeth in an effort to keep the tears from rolling. It wasn't very effective. It was her favorite sort of smile.

"It's okay," he told her.

"It's not," she choked out.

"Sure it is," he insisted gently. "Nothing lasts forever, y'know."

"That's not true. It can. We can."

Mack laughed a little. "Now, come on. Leave that hopeless romantic stuff to me. You've got a career most trucks only dream of. You can't just give that up. I'll always be here. I'll always be at the tracks, on the roads. They need you. It's okay."

"I'll never forgive myself." Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Mack shrugged and played it calm. "One day Storm will outrun himself. Then what for you? Something new, maybe? I'll be waiting. I'll be there."

The sun disappeared behind the rolling hills before them. The shadows fell in their entirety. Gale felt invisible. She couldn't even see herself in the dim light. Too much wax. Too much darned, tear-stained wax.

Mack watched her outline pull away from him. He felt a growing panic as their touch was severed. He didn't want her to leave. He wanted her to stay. What was he doing?

 _If you love her you'll let her go._

No. No, that's not how it had to be. Maybe - maybe he could quit! Dinoco had more than one hauler, it would be alright. It would be -

Gale's muted outline moved around in front of him. Suddenly he felt the familiar sensation of her lips on his. She meant it. He did, too.

"I'm holding you to this." The whisper came to him as a breeze rustled through the nearby trees.

He didn't see her leave. She drifted into the night with no lights, as quietly as she could. For all he knew, she was the night.

The last of the light faded from the blackened sky.

And so he waited.


	2. Chapter 2

Jackson noticed right away. Four hundred miles of dead silence as they made their way to the next race. There were no comments about the change in scenery as they passed from the mountains to the plains. The stunning sunset received not a word of recognition.

Storm felt something akin to guilt as he tried to think of a reason, anything to speak with her. The communication line between them was too heavy with silence. Was she mad at him? It was possible.

No, no it wasn't, Storm reasoned. This had nothing to do with him. This was business. It was in her contract, it was in his contract as well. The rules were the rules.

He looked out the window of his trailer and sighed. Off in the distance he saw a forest of windmills spinning in unison across the plains. Gale often joked with him that she thought he wouldn't be able to outrun the tips of the turbine blades given the chance. It was customary that Jackson present her with the mathematical fact that he could, given the correct degree of banking on a closed circuit. He found he missed the pointless banter.

What harm could it do to initiate it? He took another deep breath and prepared the words he was going to say.

They never left his mouth. For the sixth time in the last four hours, Gale braked as though she were attempting to jackknife the trailer. Jackson reached out instinctively to brace himself against the wall as she switched lanes to pass a slower car in the left lane. Gale never passed to the right. She never braked in an uncontrolled and ragged manner. Cheer and grace had given way to chilled ambience on edge.

Jackson settled back into place as the ride smoothed once again. He thought about asking her to slow down. They weren't in a hurry, were they? He wasn't.

Instead, he set his parking brake and anxiously awaited the next abrupt maneuver. For the first time ever, he didn't feel safe with her. He wasn't threatened, necessarily, but he saw an imminent end to Gale's flawless driving record. It was stupid, he thought, totally not worth the quiet rage.

But what did he know? He reached out and turned his stereo up.

* * *

 _Give it time, that'll make it better._

He repeated the same words to himself time and time again. When those didn't work, as they never did, he went to the next phrase. And the next. And the next.

 _We made a promise. It'll work out._

 _Let her go. It's better for her._

 _Just be patient. Patience is a virtue. It's better for everyone._

It wasn't better. Every once in a while he'd catch a glimpse of her roof fairing and feel the same guilt he felt the last time he'd spoken to her. Then she'd be gone again, lost among the tents and trailers and chaos of the infield.

He could have quit his job. He could have retired, he'd worked long enough. He had a pension, not that he needed it with his new Dinoco salary. He'd quit a job before, why couldn't he do it now?

It had been months. _Months_. The season was almost over. Every weekend they'd been at the same track, and every weekend they'd avoided each other, sometimes to the extreme. It had been hard to begin with, with the media trying to get answers they wouldn't receive. But even after all that time, it was still difficult.

Mack would park in the back row at the drivers' meetings so it would be easy for her to avoid him. He'd travel solo so Gale could enjoy the company of the Piston Cup hauler convoy between races. He'd stay nearby the Dinoco tent during the race instead of parking with the rest of the semis to enjoy the event.

It had been _months_. Over half a season of unnecessary anxieties surrounding time and place. Mack introspectively wondered if he still enjoyed his work. The answer wasn't a resounding 'yes', in fact, he wasn't sure what it was. What kept him coming back?

As the stadium cleared out, Cruz approached him as he waited patiently for her by her trailer. She was toting a new trophy and grinning from fender to fender.

"Heck of a race today, kiddo," he complimented her with a smile.

"Thanks!" she beamed. "Ready to hit the road? 'Dega's next week!"

"Ready as ever!"

Ramirez was contagious. Her positivity, her attitude, everything. Mack knew from the instant he met her that if he couldn't drive for Lightning, he'd want to drive for her. She kept him sane on long trips without the convoy. The stories and chatter they shared rivaled that of ol' Moe Marcusi.

This was why he didn't want to quit. He enjoyed the racing scene, the racers, the teams. He liked being Cruz's friend and coworker. He'd never be as satisfied working somewhere else, or not working at all. This is why he stayed.

Cruz backed into the trailer with her trophy after a long, hard day. Mack absentmindedly drove to the front of the trailer and backed into place, humming a cheerful tune - one that he and Cruz had compiled just last week to compliment his latest pulp fiction idea. His mind began to turn as he considered where to take the never-ending story next.

Over the audio link the two shared, Cruz picked up on his song and joined in, muttering short, meaningless syllables here and there along with her hums to emphasize certain notes. She let herself relax as she wiped some confetti remnants off the Nitroade-splattered gold finish of her trophy.

Mack started onto the thoroughfare that led outside the track. The road had just begun to dip into the tunnel that led out to the road under the stands when he caught a familiar flash of glossy black and electric blue.

Cruz didn't notice as he fell into silence.

* * *

Gale considered the off-season to be nothing more than four months of paid boredom. She never had any plans. It would be nice to have friends or family to visit, but her only family was her team. Friends? Her team. She yearned for something - someone - new.

Someone familiar.

This time last year they'd been parked on a beach in Mexico under palm trees, sipping mimosas as the sun rose above the endless ocean, listening to the tropical birds in the forests behind them come to life. It had been nothing other than magical, the best time of her life.

She felt her throat close as she reached out to unlock the door to her apartment. She hadn't been there since the season started, weeks before she'd left him. She knew what waited on the other side of that door. Memories. Memories she should have told her housekeeper to put away.

Memories she didn't want to forget.

The garage door retracted and revealed the spotless apartment. Everything was orderly, clean, in place. It didn't feel like a home. Sighing, she shut the door behind her.

She immediately crossed the room and parted the blinds to let some natural light into the room. Sunlight always made her feel better, at least to some degree. For a moment, she took in the sight of the city below, cars bustling home from work after a long day in the office. It seemed monotonous and boring, nothing like a peaceful countryside or beach.

Disappointed, she turned back to her living space. The maid had left a pile of mail on the desk, several envelopes comprising junk mail, paper bills she always paid online, packages containing things she'd impulsively bought on Amazon, and more junk mail. She sorted the envelopes absentmindedly, throwing all but a few bank statements away.

The packages didn't prove to be of much excitement, either. She reprimanded herself at all the things she'd ordered over the course of the past several months. Five different samples of luxury paint waxes, a book on scenic highways, and one tea infuser that resembled a Piston Cup that she'd meant to give to Jackson as an inside joke so long ago.

She tossed it to the side and reached for the last package. She frowned, confused at the labeling. This wasn't an Amazon fulfillment package. This was something someone had taped together and slapped a label on personally. It was small, and didn't have a return address, but she recognized that writing. She bit her lip and grabbed her box cutter to open it. Stress manifested itself in tears across her windshield.

The gift was simple. A delicately formed diorama encased in a clear plastic box. Some simple origami seagulls sat on a paper beach next to some paper water. One of the birds was black, one was red, and both had been folded by someone with tires much too large for the job.

Gale scared herself as a sudden sob escaped her lips. Her instinct was to chastise herself for losing her composure so quickly, but no, not then. She deserved a good cry. She wanted it. It'd been too long, and she was alone. She deserved to let herself feel.

Through her eruption of emotion, she felt herself smile so wide it hurt as she pulled a sticky note off the side of the box and read it, letting herself fall into whatever conflicting reaction felt natural.

 _It's been so long. I had to do something - anything._

 _\- M_

She placed the diorama next to a collection of framed pictures of the two of them. For a moment, she relived all those memories. For a moment, she was happy.

She knew he'd keep his promise.

She could wait.


End file.
